Cody Garbrandt has been pulled from his November 21st fight for the UFC Flyweight Championship against Deiveson Figueiredo. Per a report from Marcelo Barone and Raphael Marinho of Combate, Alex Perez will replace Garbrandt.
It is currently not known why Garbrandt withdrew from the fight.
The matchup change causes a shift in plans for Brandon Moreno, who was scheduled to face Perez on the UFC 255 card. It is not known yet if Moreno will have a replacement opponent.
Perez will enter the fight on a three-fight streak of wins from 2019 and 2020. His last bout ended within the first round, as he stopped Jussier Formiga with leg kicks at UFC 250.
The opponent change comes ahead of Figueiredo’s first attempted title defence. He won the belt in July, stopping Joseph Benavidez within a round to claim the vacant title.
Garbrandt was looking to move back down to flyweight after a bantamweight knockout win over Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250. He previously had three-straight losses, two of which were bantamweight title fights.
Here is the updated card for UFC 255 following the main event change.
Bout 7: Deiveson Figueiredo (19-1) vs. Alex Perez (24-5) (UFC Flyweight Championship)
Bout 6: Valentina Shevchenko (19-3) vs. Jennifer Maiai (18-6-1) (UFC Flyweight Championship)
Bout 5: Antonina Shevchenko (8-2) vs. Ariane Lipski (13-5) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Mauricio Rua (27-11-1) vs. Paul Craig (13-4-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 3: John Allan (13-5) vs. Roman Dolidze (7-0) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 2: Alan Jouban (16-7) vs. Jared Gooden (17-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 1: Robbie Lawler (28-15) vs. Mike Perry (14-6) (Welterweight)
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